Jennys22 31F
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4/11/2013 11:01 am

Last Read:
4/11/2013 11:22 am

The Friend Freeze

I waited until Friday to talk to Nina about "What Happened in Starbucks" (Cameron Diaz, here is your next movie role). We had plans to meet for a drink before going to see this '80s cover band with Justin and some of his friends, and I wanted to give her the opportunity to tell me what had happened rather than come at her like a total creepola—"I saw you and Ashley being all chummy in Starbucks. Dafuq?!" In the meantime, I did my due diligence and sent thank you notes (email and handwritten) to both Megan and William. In his ongoing campaign to prove what awesome boss material he is, William wrote back, "Fantastic meeting you. Will be in touch soon."

Bill was out to lunch, so over the next hour, I fell into an Internet rabbit hole. A Google search of William's name turned up a few results, mostly boring stuff about his new role at Literatti. I was just about to give up when a headline from a 2001 article caught my attention, "Sexual Harassment Suit Against LA Power Agent Dropped." I clicked on it and scanned the text. William's former assistant alleged that on several occasions, William had made her the target of "unwanted sexual advances." She had sued the agency for 700,000 dollars, but the judge had dismissed the suit, saying there was insufficient evidence that any harassment had ever occurred. Muy interesante....

The article didn't name the accuser, and since this whole thing went down in 2001, back before everything from your daily coffee order to your bra size could be tracked down online, I didn't find anything more. The Nancy Drew in me was disappointed, but I did find a small dose of comfort in knowing that the judge had dismissed the suit. Maybe William had gotten an unfair reputation as a result of the accusation?

Finally, it was time to go home, change, reapply eyeliner, and meet Nina. We were meeting at this martini bar in Soho, and I was so ready for a dirty vodka in my face. Nina was already there when I walked in, nibbling an olive off of a toothpick.

"Hi!" She jumped off the bar stool and gave me a hug. Nina doesn't usually give me hugs. Tip off number one that something was amiss.

"I'll have whatever that is," I said to the bartender, pointing at Nina's glass. He nodded and starting shaking up my medicine.

"So, how did the interview go?" Nina asked.

"You're never going to believe it," I said as I sat down, folding my coat on my lap. "But William was not the perv I thought he would be." I filled her in on all the details of the interview, as well as the article I'd found earlier today.

"Wow," Nina said. "That's not how I thought that would go."

"Same." The bartender set my glass down in front of me and I took a sip. It was so strong I shuddered. "Justin thinks he's just telling me what I want to hear."

Nina shrugged. "He might be. What does your gut tell you?"

"That he is a little bit. No assistant job can be all of the creative, fun, challenging stuff. There has to be some every day minutiae involved. But I think there is going to be less of that with him than there would be with Megan."

"Or, he's telling you what you want to hear so he can lock you down and do you on his desk, probably doggystyle."

"I'd have to agree to be done on the desk, doggystyle, and I would not."

"Then what happens?" Nina asked. "He's pissed, his ego is bruised, and does he start treating you worse than Megan would?"

"Maybe. If his reputation is actually accurate and not just the result of this lawsuit." I took a too-big sip of my drink and cringed again. "Anyway, what's going on with you?"

"School is good," Nina nodded. "Life is good. I'm excited to see this band tonight." I decided to be direct. "Have you heard from Ash? She hasn't responded to any of my texts or emails."

"Nope." Nina took a long, slow sip of her drink. Tip off number two.

"Nina. Come on."

"Come on, what?"

"You're honestly really hurting my feelings right now." I held her gaze. I couldn't believe she was lying to my face.

"How am I hurting your feelings?" Nina asked, all wide eyed and innocent looking. Tip off number three, because Nina is anything but wide eyed and innocent.

"Because you're lying!"

"Jos, don't."

"Don't what? Call you out for lying when you are lying?" I suddenly realized we had both raised our voices. A few people in the bar were staring at us.

"You're putting me in a really awkward position right now." Nina had noticed we were getting looks too, and spoke in a low voice.

"I feel like we're both speaking in tongues," I said, just as quietly. "So I'll go first. I saw you and Ashley in Starbucks."

"You saw us?" Nina asked.

"I wasn't stalking you or anything. The Literatti office is around the corner from where you guys were. Why didn't you tell me she was talking to you again?"

"Because she asked me not to," Nina said.

That hurt. "Why?"

Nina sighed and looked down at her hands. "Her and Luke broke up, okay? She's embarrassed, and she doesn't want to hear you say, ‘I told you so.'"

"First of all," I held up one finger. "I would never say that to her. Yes, I would think it because I am human and I did, in fact, tell her so. But I'd never say it! Second of all, you were just as anti-Luke as I was."

"Yeah but in the ranking of who was more anti-Luke you came first."

"I mean, what is her plan? Is she really going to be the one to ice me out when she was dating my ex boyfriend, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was a pretty cool customer about that. I only voiced my concern when it seemed like Luke wasn't treating her the way she deserved to be treated."

"I think she just needs time," Nina said.

"So until then, are you guys just going to hang out without me?"

"Well, we hang out without her," Nina pointed out.

"Do you want another?" The bartender paused in front of me, pointing to my empty martini glass.

"Absolutely." I said. He looked at Nina.

"Make that two," she said.

We agreed to change the subject and not talk about Ashley for the rest of the night. By the time I finished that second martini, Ashley couldn't have been further from my mind. We headed to the concert and had a great night with Justin and his friends. But the next morning, I woke up in a glass box of emotions. I don't know what to do—part of me feels like I should keep fighting for my friendship with Ashley. The other part of me says screw it, all I did was want the best for my friend, and if that's so unforgivable, so be it.